...AND DO NOT HINDER THEM

Last night we were wrapping up at small group and I was in a conversation with a friend when little Ailey ran up and exclaimed, "Mommy! Let's do Ring Around the Rosey!" I told her I was going to finish my conversation and then I would do it.

But I forgot.

When we got home from small group we went through our bedtime routine--pajamas, brushing teeth, Family Prayer Time, and then my husband took our son to read Reddy Fox while I took Ailey to read her story. We opened up The Jesus Storybook Bible (love this, by the way) to the story of the disciples arguing over who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And in the midst of their arguing, some young children approached Jesus. Upon seeing this, the disciples tried to send the little ones away, but Jesus did not refuse them.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them," He said. Jesus welcomed them. He did not turn them away.

This is the picture that accompanied this story:

Now, I don't know if Jesus actually played a raucous round of Ring Around the Rosey with the children that day. All I know is that He didn't turn them away.

I'll be honest--I felt a little convicted!

I know it's important for children to learn to wait their turn, as I asked my daughter to do last night. But I also know that yesterday was just, in general, one of those days when my son and my daughter were on the back burner while I tried to cram in a bazillion things into a few short hours. And honestly, taking a moment to play Ring Around the Rosey with my child would have been more valuable than any other thing I did all day long.

Just yesterday I wrote these words to a friend: "I want to serve my LORD! But I know it may be more simple, more pure, more right-there-in-front-of-me than I realize." If the Kingdom of Heaven is for such as these little children, then it IS right in front of me, grabbing onto my pant leg, asking for another glass of milk, blowing sweet kisses to me and trying to drag out bedtime. And it makes absolute sense that

loving on
playing with
listening to
praying for

my children has everything to do with Kingdom work.

His Kingdom is theirs. And more than anything else you or I can invest time in or accomplish, there is great worth in pointing our little ones toward Him.

P.S. When we finished reading her story, I scooped Aila up out of bed for a "better-late-than-never" round of Ring Around the Rosey. And it was, by far, the best thing I did all day. :)